Suicide Prevention

According to the Trevor Project, a national organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth and young adults, LGBTQ youth are particularly vulnerable to suicide ideation.

The statistics are troubling. Not only do LGBTQ youth seriously contemplate suicide at almost 3 times the rate of heterosexual youth but LGBTQ youth are also almost 5 times as likely to have attempted suicide, compared to heterosexual youth. Similarly, in a national study, 40% of transgender adults reported having attempted suicide, and 92% of those individuals reported the attempt occurred before the age of 25.

Even more concerning is the fact that LGBTQ youth from highly rejecting families are 8.4 times more likely to have attempted suicide than LGBTQ peers reporting no or low levels of family rejection.

However, adopting more inclusive, affirming policies reduces suicide ideation among LGBTQ youth. For example, the 2017 study by JAMA Pediatrics revealed that states which were early adopters of LGBTQ-inclusive laws (before 2013) saw a 14% reduction in LGBTQ youth suicide attempts.

At Equality Utah, we understand that belongingness is a human emotional need, and so LGBTQ youth, like all youth, need to feel like accepted members of their communities. That’s why our objective is to create a society—a community, a state, and a nation—where all youth, including LGBTQ youth, know that they belong and feel strong, loved, and valued.

To help protect these valuable young lives, Governor Herbert has created the Teen Suicide Prevention Task Force. This coalition is composed of members from Equality Utah, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the LDS church, Utah Department of Health, and other experts. The task force’s purpose is to devise workable solutions to reduce the escalating number of youths attempting suicide in Utah.

Since research shows that LGBTQ teens face more difficulties with suicidal ideation than their straight counterparts, Equality Utah is keen to offer its compassionate expertise to them and their families and friends, to help all LGBTQ youth in Utah to find meaning, love, connection, acceptance, and well-being in their own lives. To learn how you can help with this goal, watch or attend an Equality Utah QTalks event and consider the helpful ideas shared in the articles on EU's blog.

Crisis Intervention Information and Services for LGBTQ Youth and Adults

Equality Utah supports LGBTQ-positive policy and political candidates and amplifies existing resources that aid members our local LGBTQ community and their families and allies, which include the following local and national organizations:

The Center for Disease Control provides a list of practical, actionable advice for parents of LGBTQ/questioning children. It also contains links to additional family and youth resources.

The Williams Institute is a branch of the UCLA School of Law, and it focuses on evidence-based reforms and policy implementation.

Suicide Prevention Resource Center is a federally funded organization that assists and trains suicide prevention practitioners and is dedicated to supporting programs that help prevent suicide deaths of people being cared for within behavioral health systems.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is an organization that is “dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide.” It does so by promoting “a culture that’s smart about mental health.”